Ancient art of copper engraving at risk in Syria

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• published: 03 Aug 2015
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The ancient art of copper engraving once thrived in the old markets of the Syrian capital Damascus . But the ongoing conflict between the government and rebels is putting the traditional trade at risk. In the heart of Damascus' old city, the sound of one of the most traditional and enduring professions in Damascus. It's called chalcography - the art of copper engraving. Here, there's a whole marketplace called "Souq al-Nahhasin" or the chalcographer's marketplace. And it's here where you will find nothing but specialised copper engraving workshops and shops showing the pieces made by workers who learnt the profession from their fathers and grandfathers. The process of turning an unremarkable pot into a shimmering treasure can be long and arduous. Wael, a chalcography artisan, says it can take a whole day to make some pieces. "This pot comes to me with a plain surface, I paste a drawing on it and leave it in the sun till it dries. Then it is engraved according to the taste of the worker," he says. "Sometimes, one piece takes half a day if the carving is coarse and a whole day if the carving is fine. After finishing the inscription we soak it in water to remove the drawing and then we age it to make it look like an antique, beautiful and made with taste. These kind of pieces are really in demand in the old city, foreigners also buy them to keep them in their houses as antiques." There is no exact date for the beginning of the profession, in a city that is thought to be the most ancient capital in the world. People here say it came to them with along with civilisation. Samir is an antiques shop owner and thinks each generation has a duty to continue the tradition. "It is an inveterate profession in Damascus," he says. "And nowadays, we the young are trying to develop this profession which we inherited from our fathers and grandfathers and we hope we can shoulder the responsibility." Tourists who used to visit Syria and the capital's old city used to come to this marketplace to buy souvenirs and gifts from the antique shops in Souq al-Nahassin. But there are few tourists now due to the conflict which has gone on in Syria for more than three-and-a-half years. And just like most other businesses in the area, things are getting worse and worse. The tourist-dependent profession and craftsmanship is in serious danger, and even exports to gulf states and Western countries have decreased by seventy five percent. Mohammad is an antiques shopkeeper and says his business is barely what it used to be. "Our business was much better before the crisis," he says. "They used to come from the Gulf and from Western countries to buy antiques especially from this Souq - marketplace- and we used to export more as well. Now we are exporting but not like before; it has decreased to about a quarter of what it was." Four year ago you would have found it difficult to even to walk around between the shops, now they are empty. They are now dependant on the local customers who are already facing their own uncertainty because of the war. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/5046a36f7e66213fe8d67a8a5cc40ddb Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork